


Things Couldn't Be Stranger

by juliatallardy



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-07-12 13:24:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19946884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/juliatallardy/pseuds/juliatallardy
Summary: Darcy Henderson's life has always been a bit strange due to being the older sister of the toothless weirdo, Dustin, and the best friend of the school loner, Jonathan Byers. But when Jonathan's little brother goes missing and a girl with a shaved head suddenly shows up? Things couldn't be stranger.





	Things Couldn't Be Stranger

“Oh, where is he? Where is your brother?” my mother fretted, sitting in her favorite tan armchair with Mews, her precious cat, in her arms. She scratched the top of his head, constantly looking between me and the front door.

“Mom, it’s not a big deal, he’s at Mike’s,” I reassured her. I tell her this every time Dustin would come home late from one of his friends’ houses. She was always so nervous whenever Dustin was late to come home. She yawned, cuddling Mews as she continued to worry out loud. “Oh, but it’s a school night… He should be home, he said he’d be home by now,” she said. I could tell she was exhausted; she’s always exhausted.

“Go to bed,” I ordered, sighing. “What, no…” she protested, yawning before she could continue. “Mom, it’s late. You’re tired, I’ll wait up. Go to bed, I’ll wait until her gets home and I’ll take him to school in the morning,” I told her. She started to tell me no, but she ultimately gave in as she continued to yawn. She stood up, kissed my head, and descended down the hallway to her room, still carrying Mews. She closed the door behind her softly, leaving me to wait for my brother.

Another few minutes passed and I waited, until I got up and went to the phone in the kitchen. I picked it up and began dialing, pressing the numbers to call the Wheeler’s house. It rang a few times before the line was picked up.

“Hello?” a breathless voice answered that I recognized instantly. I cursed to myself before speaking, “Uh, hi, Nance… It’s Darcy, uh, is my brother still there?” I prayed she wasn’t mad at me for calling. “Oh,” she said, disappointed. “Yeah, um, he just knocked on my door to offer pizza before he left, maybe twenty minutes ago? He should be home soon,” she told me flatly. “God, he’s so obvious. Um, alright, thanks… Has he called?” I asked, trying to make this conversation any less forced. Me and her hadn’t really talked in a while; she’s been more busy than usual. “Not yet, but he should soon. He normally doesn’t call until later at night. It’s still early for his call,” she said. She was starting to warm up, but I could tell she wanted to get off the phone with me for him. “Let me know if he calls? I’ll try reaching Dustin, thanks,” I said goodbye to her and hung up, glad that that was over.

I went to my school bag and pulled out the walkie-talkie that Dustin had given me years ago. It was old and battered, but still worked. I turned it on, pressed the button, and called out to Dustin. “Where are you?” I got static back until Dustin’s voice yelled out, “Just passed Mirkwood. Give me ten minutes,” I sighed and turned off the walkie-talkie, putting it back in my bag before slumping down on the couch in the living room. I nodded off, collapsed on the couch, waiting for him. I dozed in and out, and until I was jolted awake by his homecoming.

“Shit, shit, my bad,” he apologized after he had slammed the front door. I jumped up, startled from the sudden noise before realizing it was just him. “Damn, Dustin,” I breathed out. He half smiled, before launching into how his Dungeons and Dragon campaign with his friends had gone. He talked about how it took all day and they were suddenly attacked by a Demogorgon when Mike’s mom told them to finally go home.

“Look, you know Mom worries. Stop being so late, I’m sick of staying up for you and having to take to you school the next day,” I complained, interrupting him. “Wait, why do you have to take me to school? That’s totally lame, Nancy doesn’t take Mike to school!” he argued. “Jonathan takes Will to school all the time, it’s no big deal. And if you stop being late, I won’t have to take you into school,” I said. I ruffled his hair before turning away and going to my room. I pulled my curly hair back into a ponytail, the lights flickering for a moment as I brushed my hair. I shrugged, took my glasses off, and climbed into bed before falling asleep for the night.

I woke up to my alarm, still exhausted from the night before. Staying up to wait for my constantly late brother meant I am never getting enough sleep. I couldn’t help but send him dirty looks as I passed him to go to the bathroom. I pulled at the bags under my eyes as I looked in the mirror, wishing them away before beginning to get ready.

Forty-five minutes later, I went to kitchen made up, hair done, and dressed. I flipped Dustin’s hat off his head as I passed him eating breakfast at the table, grabbing a slice of toast off of his plate. “Hey!” he said as I took a bite. I rolled my eyes at him and grabbed my bag. “Let’s go,” I said with my mouth full, opening the kitchen door. He grabbed his last slice of toast and stuffed it into his mouth, put the plate in the sink, put his backpack on, and headed out the door. “You don’t have to ride with me,” he tried, but I sent him another dirty look before we got on our bikes. We rode own the driveway and on the road, heading to school.

After meeting with Mike and Lucas, two of Dustin’s best friends, we reached the school parking lot. Normally, his other friend, Will, would join us, but sometimes he rode in with his older brother, Jonathan, who drove. However, I didn’t see Jonathan’s rusted Ford sedan in its usual spot. He never missed school; neither did Will.

“Are they late?” Dustin asked.

“No, they’re never late,” Mike said, shaking his head.

“They’ve been late!” Dustin argued.

“When have they _ever_ been late?” Mike countered.

“Then, where are they?” Lucas asked. We were all silent for a moment until I finally spoke up.

“Look, get to class. Joyce might have dropped Will off or something. I’ll look into it, just don’t be late,” I told them, shooing them away. They went off in the direction of the middle school, while I rode towards the high school. I pulled up to the payphones, leaning my bike against me as I entered a few coins and began dialing. The phone had barely rung when Joyce picked up, out of breath,

“Will? Sweetie?” she immediately asked. Something was definitely wrong.

“No, is everything okay? Where’s Will? Where’s Jonathan?” I questioned her. I could hear her inhale sharply when I spoke, upset that it wasn’t Will. “Darcy, sweetie, was Will at school?” her voice attempting to be hopeful. “Not that I saw, is everything okay?” I asked again. I heard the phone drop and Joyce’s voice was far away. Then, Jonathan was speaking into the phone, “Darcy, look, we can’t find Will and-”

“Shit, are you guys okay?” I interrupted. He started to talk but I interrupted again. “Obviously, you’re not. You guys are obviously not okay. Um, I’m coming over,” I decided. “Darcy, no-” he protested, but I hung the phone up on him. I got on my bike again and headed the same way I had just came from, but this time, towards the Byers’ house.

I reached their house and was greeted with Joyce gone and Jonathan pacing on the front porch. “You don’t have to be here,” he immediately said when he noticed me. “Okay, and?” I scoffed, pulling him into a hug. “He’s missing?” I asked, my voice muffled from his shoulder blocking my face. “I don’t know, Mom went to the police. She left after you called. I just, I don’t know what to do,” he rambled, pulling out of the hug and walking inside. I followed him in, stopping to pet their dog as he ran up to me.

“You should be in school,” he said again. He sat down on the couch and put his head in his hands for a moment until he looked back up at me. “Seriously, you shouldn’t be skipping,” he repeated. “Jonathan, I have yet to miss a day of school in all of high school so far. I think that I’m allowed to miss a day, especially for something like this,” I told him, sitting down next to him. “Screw perfect attendance,” I added, laughing softly. He smiled weakly at me and grabbed my hand. Without looking at me, he quietly uttered, “Thanks,” under his breath. We sat there for a little while, him just holding my hand. This wasn’t the norm for us, holding hands or hugging, but his brother was missing; nothing was the norm right now.

We heard a car pull up outside and then turn off. A moment late, Joyce stormed into the house, talking to herself. “Ninety nine out of a hundred times, screw you, Hopper!” she kept repeating. “Mom, what happened?” Jonathan asked, jumping up from the couch. He went over to her and followed her when she headed to the kitchen. I got up as well and joined them.

“Hopper! He thinks Lonnie has Will! He hasn’t seen him in over a year and yet he suddenly has Will? God!” she shouted. “What, your dad?” I asked. I had never met Will and Jonathan’s dad before, but I had never heard good things about him. Joyce threw her purse on the table, stood in place for a minute, and then headed out the back door, me and Jonathan in tow.

“He really thinks Will is with Lonnie?” Jonathan asked. Joyce scoffed as she nodded while going through the backyard, past the shed, and into the woods behind their house. We all walked through the woods until we reached Castle Byers, the hideout Jonathan and Will had built together years before. It was made of cut up branches and blankets with painted signs on the outside. I knew Will would often spend time in there, reading comics or drawing by himself. He had let Jonathan in a few times, and even myself once on a particularly rough day.

“Maybe, maybe he’s around?” Joyce softly tried. She looked inside Castle Byers but no one was inside. “Will!?” Jonathan then shouted, looking around. We all started yelling for Will, looking around. We looked for him for a while until we all accepted that he wasn’t there. We went back to the house in silence, Joyce ahead of us and Jonathan barely an inch away. We got back to the house and all went inside. Joyce went to the phone and started dialing while Jonathan went over and sat down on the couch. I went and sat next to him, wrapping my arm around his.

“This is my fault,” he whispered, turning to look at me. Our faces were only a few inches apart. “What? Why would you say that?” I asked.

“I worked late last night. I was supposed to be home with him, but I thought he was fine by himself for a little bit. I should’ve been home with him, he would’ve been safe then,” he teared up.

“Jonathan, don’t say that. Don’t you dare blame yourself, it’s not your fault,” I put my forehead against his. I blinked away the first tears I had had all day as I grabbed his hands and squeezed them. “You’re a good brother, Jonathan. You’re a way better brother to Will than I am to Dustin,” I told him. I could feel him shaking, his breath unequal as he softly cried over Will.

I had never been this close to him before. I cupped his face with one of my hands, tracing my thumb along his sharp jawline. I noticed the dark circles and bags under his eyes, the wrinkles in his forehead as he scrunched his eyebrows, the shape of his lips as he kept whispering, “I’m sorry,”.

Red and blue lights flashed outside, pulling me away from him. We both stood up and saw police cars outside. “Mom?” he called out, wiping his tears quickly but still holding on to my one hand. Joyce went over to the door and opened it to be met with several policemen, one of which was holding Will’s bike. I could hear a quiet sound escape from Jonathan when he saw it, almost like a whimper. The three men came into the house and dropped the bike, leaning it against the wall.

“Why do you have his bike?” Joyce asked, her voice breaking. I recognized the man who had carried Will’s bike as the Chief of Police, Hopper. He occasionally had come by the school for antidrug presentations.

“It was in the woods, just off the road coming here,” the blond officer behind him explained. “Was Will here the night before you noticed him missing?” Hopper asked. “What? I don’t know, we weren’t… No,” Joyce stuttered. Hopper moved past her and began looking around as he spoke. “His bike was close. He wouldn’t have just left it behind,” he said.

“You think I wouldn’t have noticed my son if he was still here?” Joyce accused him.

“I’m not saying he’s here, I’m saying he _was_ here,” he explained. He reached the back door; he crouched down to a chip that was in the wall. It was at level of the doorknob; the chip had clearly come from the door being opened too fast and crashing into the wall. “Was this always here?” he asked, looking at Joyce.

“I have two boys, Hopper. It’s a mess, it probably-” she started. “No. It’s new,” I interrupted. I had been coming over for four years now. This house was a second home to me considering how much time I spent here and how many nights I slept on the couch. That chip was new.

“Wait, what?” Jonathan looked at me, surprised. Hopper stormed out the door while Joyce yelled after him. The other two policemen began talking with Joyce and asking her questions. “How’d you know?” Jonathan asked me, still confused. “What, the chip? I, I don’t know. I just know, it’s new. It wasn’t there but now it is,” I said, unable to explain. “You’re here way too much,” he laughed for a moment, his eyes lighting up as everything felt normal for that millisecond. I chucked with him too, feeling at ease for the first time since I had arrived at the house. He leaned his head against mine again, still smiling. I looked up at him, in awe of that smile. I never appreciated it before like now; maybe because I had never gone so long without seeing it.

A moment went by before Joyce, Hopper, and the policemen came back in. I hadn’t even noticed that we were alone. I pulled away from Jonathan, putting a foot or two of distance between us. I heard Hopper tell the policemen to set up a search party, to gather as many people as possible.

“I can help, we can help!” I offered. I started to grab my bag and head for the door, but Hopper stood in front of it, blocking it.

“You all are staying here. You all are going to wait for Will, whether we find him or he comes here. You’re staying,” he told us. I started to speak, prepared to tell him no, but Joyce grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back. I looked to her and she shook her head at me. I stood down from Hopper and stepped back. He nodded his head at Joyce and went out the door. We all stood there quietly and watched the police car drive off.

“Hopper said that we, uh, we should make missing posters,” Joyce said. “That’s a good idea,” I added. Jonathan nodded, and said “Let me, let me get some of the photo boxes,” before turning and going down the hallway to his room. I followed, calling after him, “I’ll help you,”. I stood in the doorway as he reached into his closet, shuffling through boxes. He eventually pulled one big box out with his messy scrawl written across it saying “WILL”.

“Do you have boxes of all of us?” I questioned. He half-smiled, which I knew meant yes.

“Oh, you definitely have to show me my box then!” I chased after him down the hallway. He had been taking pictures of everyone and everything for years, so I knew he had to have a box of me, if not more than just one. He opened the lid and turned it over the coffee table, spilling its contents. Hundreds and hundreds of photos spilled out and overflowed onto the table. The three of us sat on the couch, Jonathan in the middle, and began searching through the pile of photos. We searched for the perfect one, waiting for Will to come home.


End file.
